I think “fuzzy clusters in thingspace” is sound, but it doesn’t explain why people get so emotional and rigid about definitions.
I liked some Ballard in moderate doses. I remember “Chronopolis” fondly, and the one about breaking the time flowers to keep the barbarians away—for a while, and something about orchids which produced music and (same series, I think) cloud sculptors.
I don’t think I read much of Moorcock’s science fiction. I liked Gloriana, but bounced off Elric.
More generally, at the time I saw a hard split between writers I liked who I thought were just writing science fiction (perhaps with fancier prose, but I wasn’t terribly sensitive to that) and who I couldn’t figure out why they were classed with writers I detested or couldn’t see the point of (David Bunch).
These days if I see contemporary writing that looks like New Wave, I get a little nostalgic even if it’s the sort of thing I otherwise don’t like.
By the way, I didn’t think of mentioning specifics of sf as trolling, but I did think of it as rather like dragging the cat toy along the floor.
I think “fuzzy clusters in thingspace” is sound, but it doesn’t explain why people get so emotional and rigid about definitions.
I liked some Ballard in moderate doses. I remember “Chronopolis” fondly, and the one about breaking the time flowers to keep the barbarians away—for a while, and something about orchids which produced music and (same series, I think) cloud sculptors.
I don’t think I read much of Moorcock’s science fiction. I liked Gloriana, but bounced off Elric.
More generally, at the time I saw a hard split between writers I liked who I thought were just writing science fiction (perhaps with fancier prose, but I wasn’t terribly sensitive to that) and who I couldn’t figure out why they were classed with writers I detested or couldn’t see the point of (David Bunch).
These days if I see contemporary writing that looks like New Wave, I get a little nostalgic even if it’s the sort of thing I otherwise don’t like.
By the way, I didn’t think of mentioning specifics of sf as trolling, but I did think of it as rather like dragging the cat toy along the floor.